The invention relates to a delivery for a machine for processing flat printing materials, especially a sheet-processing printing machine, having a pile-forming station wherein sheets conveyed to the machine in a processing direction are piled, a make-ready station located upline of the pile-forming station in the processing direction and having an insertion opening provided in a side wall for the insertion of a pile underlay into the make-ready station, and a conveyor by which the pile underlay inserted into the make-ready station is movable into the pile-forming station, and also relates to a machine for processing flat printing materials and equipped with the delivery, especially a printing machine.
A delivery of the foregoing general type is known heretofore from the published German Patent Document DE 196 12 294 C2. This discloses a conveyor by which pile underlays of different types can be transported from the aforementioned make-ready station into the aforementioned pile-forming station. To the extent that these pile underlays are in the form of a rake or a floating table, at least in the case of one and the same job to be processed by the machine, one and the same pile underlay may possibly be moved to and fro repeatedly between the make-ready station and the pile-forming station. However, the necessary changing of the delivery to a different pile underlay is required in any case at a job change and also only when, for example, in the case of a pile underlay provided in the form of a rake, this is unsuitable for the case of forming a pile on pallets not provided with grooves, in order to perform a pile change during production printing, so that the delivery has to be changed over to a pile underlay in the form of the aforementioned floating table. As a rule, therefore, a mounted pile underlay in the form of the rake or the floating table remains in use over a relatively long time period, because during a pile change using a rake or a floating table as a pile underlay forming an auxiliary pile carrier, the auxiliary pile carrier is always one and the same from case to case, depending upon the type of pallet used.
In the case of hurdle or rack formation, however, a further pile underlay in the form of a hurdle board is required for each partial pile to be formed.
Starting from a make-ready station, a device for mechanized loading of a pile-forming station with lost pile underlays, such as with hurdle boards, in particular, is disclosed by the published German Patent Document DE 43 44 361 C2. In the make-ready station disclosed therein, a plurality of pile underlays piled on one another is stored in a magazine, from which the respective lowermost underlay can be transported into the pile-forming station by a rake that is reciprocatingly movable between the make-ready station and the pile-forming station and is equipped with drivers or entrainers. Information relating to the filling of the magazine cannot be gathered from the aforementioned document. However, it is conceivable that, before the start of a print job, the magazine is filled up by inserting the pile underlays by hand. The disclosed device can therefore entirely be advantageously used for hurdle delivery, provided a print job does not exceed a specific edition size and therefore a specific number of requisite hurdle boards.
The delivery disclosed in the published German Patent Document DE 196 12 294 C2 mentioned at the introduction hereto is certainly, in principle, suitable for the case of exceeding a specific edition size. However, in this case, there remains the difficulty of introducing appropriate pile underlays into the make-ready station. For this purpose, the delivery disclosed in the last-cited document provides only a slot-like lateral opening in one side wall of the delivery, through which, respectively, a pile underlay in the form of a hurdle board is to be moved into the make-ready station and transferred to the conveyor which, in order to accommodate the pile underlay, has only frame arms which are arranged in the vicinity of a respective side wall. The introduction of a pile underlay through the aforementioned insertion opening therefore proves to be extremely difficult.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a delivery for a machine for processing flat printing materials, namely a delivery of the general type described in the introduction hereto, so that the introduction of pile underlays into the make-ready station is made easier and can be performed in an extremely short time.
With the foregoing and other objects in view, there is provided, in accordance with one aspect of the invention, a delivery for a machine for processing flat printing materials, comprising a pile-forming station wherein sheets conveyed to the machine in a processing direction are piled, a make-ready station located upline of the pile-forming station in the processing direction and having an insertion opening formed in a side wall thereof for inserting a pile underlay into the make-ready station, and a conveyor by which a pile underlay inserted into the make-ready station is movable into the pile-forming station, a pile underlay carrier disposed in the make-ready station, the pile underlay carrier having a support adjustable between a first level and a second level lower than the first level, the support, at the first level thereof, accommodating the pile underlay inserted into the make-ready station, the support being adjustably movable in a direction to the second level for transferring the pile underlay to the conveyor.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the support is formed with a table surface onto which the pile underlay is pushable.
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the delivery includes a ramp for supporting the pile underlay during an initial phase of feeding thereof to the pile underlay carrier.
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the delivery includes a further conveyor for feeding the pile underlay to the pile underlay carrier.
In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, the further conveyor includes a conveying roller connected to a drive.
In accordance with yet another feature of the invention, the drive is disposed within the conveying roller.
In accordance with yet a further feature of the invention, the delivery includes a roller arrangement disposed parallel to an axis of the conveying roller and biased in a direction towards the conveying roller.
In accordance with yet an added feature of the invention, the delivery includes a stop for restricting the pile underlays feedable to the pile underlay carrier to a predetermined maximum wall thickness.
In accordance with yet an additional feature of the invention, the delivery includes a sensor which, after the pile underlay has been inserted completely into the make-ready station, serves for generating a signal if an end of the pile underlay trailing with respect to the insertion direction deviates from a predetermined position.
In accordance with still another feature of the invention, the delivery includes a housing surrounding the insertion opening, the housing comprising the ramp and formed with an opening disposed upline of the insertion opening through which the pile underlay is to be pushed, and a flap which, in a first position thereof, closes the upline opening, and in a second position thereof, opens the upline opening, the flap being lockable in the first position thereof.
In accordance with still a further feature of the invention, the conveyor comprises a carriage, a frame is provided for carrying the pile underlay carrier and accommodating the carriage so that it is reciprocatingly movable between the make-ready station and the pile-forming station, and the ramp is suspended so as to be pivotably supported on the frame.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a machine for processing flat printing materials, including a delivery, comprising a pile-forming station wherein sheets conveyed to the machine in a processing direction are piled, a make-ready station located upline of the pile-forming station in the processing direction and having an insertion opening formed in a side wall thereof for inserting a pile underlay into the make-ready station, and a conveyor by which a pile underlay inserted into the make-ready station is movable into the pile-forming station, a pile underlay carrier disposed in the make-ready station, the pile underlay carrier having a support adjustable between a first level and a second level lower than the first level, the support, at the first level thereof, accommodating the pile underlay inserted into the make-ready station, the support being adjustably movable in a direction to the second level for transferring the pile underlay to the conveyor.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a sheet-processing printing machine, including a delivery, comprising a pile-forming station wherein sheets conveyed to the printing machine in a processing direction are piled, a make-ready station located upline of the pile-forming station in the processing direction and having an insertion opening formed in a side wall thereof for inserting a pile underlay into the make-ready station, and a conveyor by which a pile underlay inserted into the make-ready station is movable into the pile-forming station, a pile underlay carrier disposed in the make-ready station, the pile underlay carrier having a support adjustable between a first level and a second level lower than the first level, the support, at the first level thereof, accommodating the pile underlay inserted into the make-ready station, the support being adjustably movable in a direction to the second level for transferring the pile underlay to the conveyor.
In accordance with a concomitant feature of the invention, the delivery is for a sheet-processing printing machine.
In order to achieve the aforementioned objects of the invention, in the make-ready station, there is thus arranged a pile underlay carrier having a support which can be adjusted between a first level and a second level lower than the first and which, at the first level thereof, accommodates the pile underlay inserted into the make-ready station and, by being adjusted in the direction of the second level, transfers the underlay to the conveyor.
In this configuration, a pile underlay, respectively, introduced into the make-ready station through the insertion opening can be pushed onto the pile underlay carrier, which then aligns the pile underlay in a necessary manner so that, after the pile underlay has been inserted, the latter is transferred to the conveyor by lowering the pile underlay carrier, after the pile underlay has been moved into a horizontal position by the aforementioned alignment.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a delivery for a machine for processing flat printing materials, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: